Hyperloop One to Shut Down After Failing to Reinvent Transit::The company is selling assets, laying off remaining employees.

  • Mostly_Gristle@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    So the guy who notoriously despises public transit failed to come through on his promise to revolutionize public transit?

    Wow.

    I mean, who could have seen that coming?

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      No, this was the point. He set mass transit back by at least a decade with his ridiculous projects.

      • chitak166@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Yeah, imagine if all the taxpayer money he got to build a useless tunnel in Vegas was spent on something, you know, useful.

        What’s sad is, we will never see musk supporters come out and admit they were wrong. They are all gung-ho before the money changes hands, then when the grift happens and we have nothing to show for it, they all disappear.

      • rwhitisissle@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        No one reads the article, my guy. Everyone just assumes it’s Musk’s imbecilic project, when in reality it’s Branson’s imbecilic project.

    • Lev_Astov@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Isn’t hyperloop like the opposite kind of transit to your typical public transit of the type he hates? Like, the only thing it can really compete with is airlines for long distance rapid transit.

        • june@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Yea, it wasn’t an ocean of stupid so much as Elon dangling the idea of a better alternative like the esca of an angler fish with the intention to gobble up the plans for the train project.

          • Telstarado@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            A) I applaud you for your masterful continuation of the pelagic theme of this discussion about Elon porpoisely allowing this project to flounder into Davy Jone’s locker.

            B) TIL that an anglerfish lure is called an esca and that a sufficiently literate person can seamlessly weave such an unusual word into this net of fishy discourse… Bravo!

          • macrocephalic@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            It’s not even like trains are his white whale, he’s just trying to break any alternative to cars before they can catch on

          • kameecoding@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            “Better” he hyped up a stupid economically non viable shit so his car company can stay relevant

        • rwhitisissle@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          This isn’t Elon’s hyperloop. It’s a company called Hyperloop One, predominately funded by Richard Branson.

        • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          This gets misquoted all the time.

          The purpose wasn’t to delay the high speed rail, in favor of the hyperloop.

          It was to delay/stop the high speed rail for something better as he didn’t think the existing plan was high speed enough or would be cost effective and on time. Faster high speed trains were already being built and with all the delays this would (and has) faced, it’d be even further back by the time it was finished.

          The difference there is pretty important, unless you fall into the conspiracy camp of the intent was to delay it so he could sell more cars and he actually doesn’t want anything made.

          But the goal was to stop it so they’d make it better than planned, not make a hyperloop.

          Edit: and before people reply, it’s fast enough, it doesn’t need to be the best etc etc. That’s fine if that’s your stance. I’m just saying what was actually going on, and you don’t have to agree with him.

          • dustyData@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            Just because his lie was technically a slightly different one makes no matter, it was still a lie and it was still stupid that all those government regulators and legislators fell for it.

              • dustyData@lemmy.world
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                9 months ago

                And you think Elon Musk, the man who owns a car making company, wasn’t trying to sell more cars?

                • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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                  9 months ago

                  Well, one implies malice, and the other pushing for a better more futuristic future.

                  And he has a history of pushing for an idealistic futuristic future, with pushing spacex to figure out how to land rockets or how to make a profitable EV, so ya, I’m willing to say there’s a likely chance he was honest in thinking it was a bad idea and California, the home of silicon valley and advanced technology could maybe come up with something better.

                  But we’ll never really know.

  • chitak166@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Successful grift is successful!

    Congrats, dipshits of LA and Vegas! Can’t wait to see what dumb crap you waste your money on next!

  • kingthrillgore@lemmy.ml
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    9 months ago

    I remember seeing all the big brain French train engineers blowing the fuck out of the Hyperloop back in the 2010s, matching up with my understanding of the technology and I guess that was the moment the Musk Hypnotism broke for me. We really don’t even need maglevs, we can still move fast on iron, maglevs are only proposed to improve density by speed.

    It was frustrating to see friends and cohorts think the hyperloop would solve a solved problem. And do it in a cost-efficient way. It didn’t do either.

    Touching grass is not enough, I want Elon Musk to get cancer in his dick and die

    • jjjalljs@ttrpg.network
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      9 months ago

      For all of his fans, he also has a lot of anti-fans. I’m surprised none of them have thrown him out the window of the twitter HQ or whatever. I guess he’s paying his security team a lot.

      • kingthrillgore@lemmy.ml
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        9 months ago
        1. Distance is a factor
        2. He knows he’s not liked, which is why he probably pays G4S or whatever a lot
        3. He can’t run forever at the rate Xitter is going. One of his backers is that Saudi prince that had the journalist chopped up.
        • Aleric@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          I usually don’t wish violence on anyone, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Musk made into douchebag tartar.

    • iAvicenna@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I mean all this money could have been used to create incentive to make high speed rail more widely available and cheaper and I am sure that would already be super beneficial for the world. Instead they had to trash all this money. I wonder why many think that humans are some form of special creatures that deserve to exist forever. If anything we will be lucky to exist for much longer.

    • S_H_K@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      9 months ago

      I mostly agree with the statement but the Hyperloop wasn’t solving a solved problem. Isn’t mean to replace trains is meant to replace planes that rely on fossil fuels for international flights and even go faster than that. The basis of function is sound to my understanding but is probably too costly to implement mostly for economies in crisis, I never was sure if it was really as cost effective as they said it was.

        • Garbanzo@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Ok, sure, but what about hyperloop IN SPACE!

          I’ll be happy to discuss my brilliant new invention with anyone who still has money left over from this project.

          • Obi@sopuli.xyz
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            9 months ago

            Sounds easy enough, create space elevators with stations at the top and then make the tubes meet in space. What could it cost like $10?

  • Red_October@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    No way, you mean this insane nonsense that was obviously never going to work isn’t going to work after all? Damn.

    • eldain@feddit.nl
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      9 months ago

      I’m impressed they could get their momentum going for so long, they were able to burn so much money and only now are investors pulling out? That was a serious hype train! Even if it was meant as lobby sponsoring against standard high speed rail, holy cow what a waste!

  • Sanctus@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Its maddening, we have the real solution. Its not flashy magitech that will instantaneously move you while leaving your fecal matter behind. It is just fucking hi speed rail. Turns out, putting a bunch of people that all need to take a largely similar path on a high capacity, fast moving vehicle is just really efficient.

    This is like watching a children’s show where they pause before they give the answer, but instead of giving a logical answer they regurgitate nonsense.

    • oatscoop@midwest.social
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      9 months ago

      Next you’re going to tell me that that not only does humanity already have trains that can do 200mph (320 km/h): but they’re more reliable, safer, cheaper to build/operate, and can can carry a ton of people per trip.

      Psh, like that would ever work.

    • Halcyon@discuss.tchncs.de
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      9 months ago

      If you’ve ever been to Japan, you can only roll your eyes if you read about how people can fall for that “hyperloop” scam. The Hyperloop concept is just unrealistic, dangerous and expensive. The Japanese high speed train system is very efficient and absolutely reliable. 🚅

  • Smacks@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Invest in actual public transportation: I sleep

    Invest in an overly expensive alternative to trains: REAL SHIT

  • aesthelete@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    It was so obvious that this wouldn’t work that even Elon Musk didn’t want to have anything to do with it besides posting his brainfart on the Internet for the whole world to smell.

    • dustyData@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      He admitted on record that he only spouted that bullshit to counter a bid for high speed transit in California. He was never interested in the slightest to ever pursue that idea in good faith. It worked, the project was canned to invest in Hyperloop and now US transit will continue to be shit because one douche bag with more money than sense opened his pie hole. And apparently US politics listens exclusively to people with more money than the average country’s budget.

      • Aleric@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        So just a continuation of the motor vehicle industry sabotaging public transportation so people have to buy more vehicles.

        Capitalist ‘innovation’ at its finest!

      • aesthelete@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        And apparently US politics listens exclusively to people with more money than the average country’s budget.

        …even if they (the government that is) gave him a large portion of that money.

  • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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    9 months ago

    Awww no waaaay maintaining a hundred mile long vacuum tube in a state that gets earthquakes more often than Seattle gets rain wasn’t viable? Who could have possibly anticipated that??

    • Tnaeriv@sopuli.xyz
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      9 months ago

      No, it wasn’t. This shit has been common in sci-fi for decades. He just gave it a fancy name and pretended he came up with it.

  • Mojojojo1993@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Boo. All I want is fast as fuck transport. I don’t see why maglev trains in a vacuum are so difficult

    • exu@feditown.com
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      9 months ago

      Maintaining a vacuum over long distances is really fucking hard.
      You’d be better served utilising existing rail infrastructure and improving that to make high speed trains possible.

      • LEDZeppelin@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Whole purposes of hyperloop was to derail any constructive debate on existing rail network. Pun intended. I’d say hyperloop was quite successful.

      • Mojojojo1993@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Small vaccum then. They managed to build a tunnel between France and England. Put people on the moon. Can do a lot

        • CommanderCloon@lemmy.ml
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          9 months ago

          Why not just make a tunnel and forget the vacuum? It’s just a subway system, but it’s efficient

          Edit: France & England might have dug a tunnel but Paris and London just have a subway. And train to move around the country.

          Edit2: fixed wording

          • Thorry84@feddit.nl
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            9 months ago

            No it’s literally a subway system. Putting trains in tunnels isn’t something new or revolutionary, that’s literally what subways are. And we’ve been doing it for over a hundred years.

            People seem to be locked in on examples in the US of bad subways to mean subways inherently suck. But there are plenty of examples of perfectly working subways, which are highly efficient, comfortable and get you from A to B fast.

            There are even places with subways that currently suck, but used to be very good. But car culture has meant rich people use their car and sit in gridlock, while the poor use the subway. This lead to a class difference and the richer class in power gutting funding for public transport. That is what makes it suck, not the principal of the thing.

            Everything Elon says is new or revolutionary, usually isn’t. The hyperloop (or vacuum train) concept isn’t new either, I remember reading a book in the 80s where they had vacuum trains. And there are examples of the idea going back a hundred years or more. The hyperloop idea is so dumb, it can be debunked in a couple of minutes with some back of the envelope calculations. The power requirements alone would be huge. But hey slap some solar panels on that bad boy and it regenerates it’s own power right, cause that’s how anything works.

            • Thorry84@feddit.nl
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              9 months ago

              The boring company is a scam. They don’t do anything new or better and in many ways are much worse.

              They took the costs of major tunnel projects, calculated the costs per meter of diameter, scaled it down to their max diameter and compared the two. Then they say OMG WE ARE SO MUCH BETTER! Well sure, because that’s in no way a fair comparison to make at all. Let alone the fact that comparing budget to actual costs is a no go, it’s not possible to just scale the costs.

              If you want to make a small narrow tunnel, for example to connect two existing buildings on a existing manufacturing site with a small diameter to for example run some infrastructure and a servicing tunnel, you don’t use a tunnel boring machine. You just get out a digger, dig a big hole, drive the digger down the hole, dig forward, brace, dig forward, brace etc. It doesn’t cost much at all, doesn’t require many people or special equipment and goes pretty fast.

              If you want to make a big ass tunnel, for example for a road or a railroad, you might want to use a tunnel boring machine, but mostly traditional digging is preferred. We’ve gotten pretty good at creating tunnels using diggers and explody stuff and have been for thousands of years. When it’s figured out a tunnel boring machine is actually the best option, you need a company with a lot of experience and equipment to get the job done. When you are at that point, money is mostly a non-issue and time becomes the main limitation. These projects take a long time and the public or company providing the funding needs it done, they don’t mind paying if it’s done as fast as possible. And experience is the key to getting huge projects like that done on time.

              The costs come mostly from all the red tape, safety provisions and pure manhours getting it done. The costs of the machine is so much a non factor, there are times the machine is custom built for a project and a lot of it is left there because taking it out isn’t worth it. Cutting on red tape isn’t possible, regulations are regulations and they are strict for a reason. Cutting on safety is a Elon trademark, but in a lot of places you can’t get away with that. And doing that within your own company is one thing, but if it’s a job for a client, the client might not be inclined to agree to something like that. The manhours can be minimized with a super efficient setup and you can count on companies having done a lot of projects over the decades know how to do it as efficient as possible.

              And on the safety point: The only tunnel the Boring Company has ever built would not be allowed to be open to the public in most places. And it actually isn’t really open, you have to sign a waiver beforehand and only certain personal is allowed in the tunnel and only with their Tesla cars. It’s only barely large enough for a car and would be considered way too small for an actual road. Real tunnels need stuff like emergency exits, guardrails and a walking space behind the guardrails to get to the emergency exits, a lot of safety infra, monitoring, ventilation, air inputs and outputs, fire safety etc. You can’t even drive in their tunnel with regular cars, the fumes have nowhere to go. And the day one of their cars catches fire in that tunnel is a dark day indeed. I’m not sure the driver can even open the doors and for sure emergency services can’t get to it. They’ve made a concrete hole and called it a tunnel, that’s not what a tunnel is.

              I’m not sure what the point of it is, it’s probably an economic vessel of some kind to shift some money around. They haven’t accepted any orders and have only done that shitty Vegas thing. They say they are going to do more in Vegas, but I’ll believe that when I see it.

    • 🅿🅸🆇🅴🅻@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      😂 That’s what Muskrat wanted you to believe. Engineers and people with more than 2 brain cells have debunked the Hyperloop idea for years. Here’s one of them from 7 years ago.

      • ours@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        And even before that the Swiss seriously studied the possiblity and gave up.

          • Sekoia
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            9 months ago

            Uh. Buddy. They absolutely are known for building a shitload of trains. There’s the Gottard, which is the longest tunnel through a mountain, and I think also the steepest railtracks in the world?

            You’ve never heard of swiss trains always being on time?

            • Mojojojo1993@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              Japanese trains being on time. Never heard of swiss.

              Haven’t heard if their engineering prestige.

              When I think swiss I think corruption and chocolate. Maybe watch makers too. Apologies

              • eric@lemmy.world
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                9 months ago

                Well if you’ve never heard of it, then you must be right. Or it could be that maybe you have no clue what you’re talking about. No that couldn’t be it.

                It blows my mind that you’ve never heard of Swiss engineering, but I guess the whole world is wrong since you’re clueless to it. Case closed.

              • Nudding@lemmy.world
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                9 months ago

                Knowing when to shut up and when to listen are valuable skills that a lot of people don’t have.

              • Sekoia
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                9 months ago

                Lol I didn’t get the reference before

                (There was a post about Switzerland considering legalizing cocaine cus they have so much and it’s so pure & common, apparently)

            • Gregorech@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              Will the newly proposed tunnel under the Angeles National Forest break that record or because it’s under not through it’s in a different category?

          • lovesickoyster@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            Not really building infrastructure for the masses

            telling me you’ve never been to switzerland without telling me you’ve never been to switzerland.

              • jonne@infosec.pub
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                9 months ago

                And even maglev is barely done because it’s so expensive to build. Hyperloop is wrapping that same maglev train into a tube that should maintain a vacuum for kms on end, and pretty much every failure mode would end up being genuinely catastrophic.

                • Kitty Jynx@lemmy.world
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                  9 months ago

                  Plus you would have to armor the whole thing and spend a bunch on security because one guy with a .50 rifle or some explosives could destroy a whole section and close the whole thing by punching one hole in it.

        • nelly_man@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          The vacuum is the hard part, not the maglev. You would need to enclose the entire track inside if a vacuum, and that world be ridiculously expensive and practically impossible with current technology. It’s already very expensive to build a tunnel for a train, which is why they are avoided if possible. But this would need to be all tunnel that is air tight, so even more expensive than regular train tunnels.

          To put it into perspective, the current largest manmade vacuum chamber is at a NASA research facility in Ohio. It’s a cylinder with a diameter of 100 feet and a height of 122 feet. If this were laid on its side, about 1.5 New York subway cars could fit inside. The largest vacuum ever made can barely fit the vehicle inside, let alone allow it to travel between two different places where the extra speeds would be warranted.

          • Mojojojo1993@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            That kinda puts it in perspective. What about particular vaccum? Or just where the tracks meet the train. That’s the only bit with drag ?

            • OneCardboardBox@lemmy.sdf.org
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              9 months ago

              The drag is air against the whole body of the train, so you need vacuum everywhere.

              Assuming that you could build such a big vacuum there would be safety concerns. What if there’s an accident in the tube? Does everyone in the train depressurize and die? Assuming people can survive and get out of the train car, now they’re in a tube that’s 100 miles long. How can you build emergency exits in a system designed to be as airtight as possible?

          • Mojojojo1993@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            That kinda puts it in perspective. What about particular vaccum? Or just where the tracks meet the train. That’s the only bit with drag ?

          • Mojojojo1993@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            That kinda puts it in perspective. What about particular vaccum? Or just where the tracks meet the train. That’s the only bit with drag ?

    • chitak166@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I don’t see why maglev trains in a vacuum are so difficult

      Thunderf00t has many videos on the subject. I recommend checking them out. He’s been calling out musk’s bullshit for years, and is right every time.

    • meeeeetch@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Because maintaining a train length vacuum is really difficult and doesn’t really provide that big of a benefit.

      Atmospheric rail has been attempted with varying degrees of success (but never to a ‘replaces traditional rail’ degree) for 200 years.

      • Mojojojo1993@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        If only I could. My life’s goal is that. To build what nobody else will. Unfortunately I must acquire great wealth in order to do that. Proving particular difficult. Still have some years left.

        Then I can implement my manifesto